Harness.



PATENTED JULY 9; 1907.

H. H. CRAWFORD.

, HARNESS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 21, 1906.

. L A TTORNE Y5 UNITED STATES HEZEKIAI-I H. CRAWFORD, OF EL PASO, TEXAS.

i IAIARNESS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 9, 1907.

Application filed September 21,1906. Serial No. 335,619.:

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HEZEKIAH H. CRAWFORD. a citizen of the United States, residing at El Paso, in the county of El Paso and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Harness, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to harness.

The objects of the invention are to improve and simplify the construction of harness; furthermore, to increase its efiiciency in operation and to decrease the expense attending its manufacture.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

In the accompanying drawings forming partof this specification: Figure 1 is a plan view of a set of harness constructed in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 Fig. 4 is a detail view of one end of the breast collar; and Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Like reference numerals indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

The improved harness of this invention comprises a breast collar A and a saddle B. The breast collar A, which preferably is in the form of a broadstrap adapted to be fitted around the breast of the animal, is provided on each side of the set of harness with a supplemental strap 1 which extends longitudinally of the breast collar A and is suitably secured thereto. The rear end of the supplemental strap 1 is free, as indicated at 2, and is provided with a D-ring 4 adapted to receive an ordinary breeching strap 5. Adjacent its forward end, the supplemental strap 1 on each side of the set of harness is formed with a pair of longitudinal slots 6 through which are extended the terminals of a shaft loop 7, said terminals, after passing through the slots 6, being extended in opposite directions and held firmly between the supplemental strap 1 and the breast collar A by means of the stitching which holds said supplemental strap in position. It will be understood that the loop 7 is. adapted to receive the forward end of the thill or shaft 8. The breast collar A, together with the supplemental strap 1, is formed with a longitudinal series of orifices 9 which preferably are rectangular in shape and are stitched around their borders as shown.

The saddle B on each side of the center thereof, consists preferably of an inner or ,sadd1e strap 11, an intermediate loop strap 12 and an outer or skirt strap 13. The saddle strap 11 is provided at its lower end with a tongue strap adapted to be engaged by a buckle on the belly band 15. The lower ends of the loop strap 12 and the skirt strap 13 are also adapted to be engaged by buckles on the belly band 15, as will be understood. The skirt strap 13, which preferably is formed of three plies of material stitched together, the two outer plies being of ordinary leather and the middle ply of rawhide, is wider than the loop strap 12, and is formed with a longitudinally or vertically extending series of "orifices 16, which preferably are rectangular in shape and are stitched around their borders. the skirt strap 13 preferably are of the same size as the orifices 9 in the breast collar A, and all of said orifices are of slightly greater length than the width of the loop strap 12 so that, when the harness is in position upon a horse and the breast collar A extends in between the skirt strap 13 and the loop strap 12 of the saddle B, said loop strap 12 can be pushed outward through one of the orifices 9 of the breast collar A and one of the orifices 16 of the skirt strap 13 to form a loop or bight 18 through which the shaft 8 extends, said loop or bight 18 being passed through an ordinary longitudinally-extending metallic loop 19 mounted on the shaft 8. It will be obvious that when the loop strap 12 has been passed outwardly through the alined orifices of the saddle and breast collar, and has been drawn tightly downward into engagement with the belly band, said saddle,

breast collar and shaft will be firmly bound together in an extremely simple and effective manner.

It will be obvious that by employing the verticallyextending series of orifices 16 in the skirt strap 13, the breast collar can'be easily and quickly adjusted verticallywith respect to the skirt strap 13 to accommodate the harness to different sizes of animals. Furthermore, by means of the orifices 9 in the breast collar A, the saddle B can be readily adjusted longitudinally with respect to said breast collar in order to adjust the harness to different sizes of animals. A further advantage of the novel means describedof binding together the breast collar and saddle, is that whenever desired the breast collar can be omitted from the set of harness without loosening any buckles or changing the combination in any way, and merely the saddle B with the loop strap 12 and the skirt strap 13 can be employed for fastening the shafts 8 to the animal. This form of harness, consisting merely of the saddle and belly band, is sometimes employed for drawing light sulkies or similar vehicles in order that the horse may have all possible freedom of movement.

The improved harness of this invention is strong, simple, durable and inexpensive in construction, as well as thoroughly efficient in use.

The orifices 16 in What is claimed is:

1. A set of harness comprising a saddle having a skirt strap formed with an orifice, and a loop strap folded through said orifice to form a bight adapted to engage a shaft.

2. A set of harness comprising a breast collar having a series of orifices, a saddle having a skirt strap formed with a series of orifices and a loop strap extending longitudinally of the saddle and adapted to be looped through one of the orifices of the skirt strap and one of the orifices of the breast collar to form a bight for engaging a shaft.

3. A set of harness comprising a breast collar having a series of orifices and a shaft loop, a saddle having a skirt strap formed with a'series of orifices of the same shape and size as the orifices of the breast collar, and a loop strap adapted to be extended through one of the orifices of the skirt strap and the breast collar to form a bight for engaging a shaft.

4. A set of harness comprising a breast collar having a l supplemental strap formed with a pair of slots, said breast collar and supplemental strap being formed with a series of orifices, a shaft loop having its terminals extended through the slots in said supplemental strap and secured between said strap and said breast collar, a saddle having a saddle strap, a skirt strap formed with a series of orifices, and a loop strap located between said skirt strap and saddle strap, said breast collar being extended between said skirt strap and loop strap, and said loop strap being extended outward through one of the orifices in the skirt strap and one of the orifices in the-breast collar to form a bight for engaging a shaft.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HEZEKIAH H. CRAWFORD.

Witnesses J. HISE Minus, F. E. HUNTER. 

